Headphones in Corporate Culture?

TheGreatOrangePeel asks: "In an ever increasing sea of white-earbuds in my office, I broke from the mainstream and recently purchased the iAudio X5 to help pass the downtime I experience behind cube walls. I've got a decent set of headphones, but recently I've discovered that being able to hear the rap-tap on the cube frame is sometimes a problem even with the volume cranked way down and considering how my current headphones are about ready for retirement anyway, I thought I would start shopping around for a new set. The problem is that most of mid priced headphones out there are designed to block out real world noise. The Sennheiser PX100 look like they may fit what I'm looking for, but I question the durability of folding headphones and I thought I would see what my peers on Slashdot prefer. What I'm looking for is a set of headphones with (1) good sound in a wide variety of music (2) in the $30-$99 range that (3) will let me hear the warnings of imminent attack at work by co-workers, and the alerts at my monthly LAN parties from allied gamers."

a mirror

[file cabinet (773149)]

one of the people where I work has a mirror (similar to the one you would see on a bike) attached to her monitor..

Re:a mirror

[daeley (126313)]

ThinkGeek has its C.H.I.M.P., which is basically a convex cubicle mirror. Works well enough:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/294 0/ [thinkgeek.com]

Re:a mirror

[UnrefinedLayman (185512)]

No, it really doesn't work well enough. The CHIMP mirror is made of cheap plastic and the resolution of the "mirror" (silver-painted plastic) is ridiculous. To boot, the wedge of the mirror makes it impossible to attach to any modern LCD without blocking a significant part of the screen.

The quality is something I'd expect for a trinket from the back of a comic book. Very disappointing. I solidly do not recommend the product.

Re:a mirror

[Impeesa (763920)]

Better still, if you can manage it, is to arrange your cubicle/office so that your face is towards the entrance, rather than some combination of your back and your screen full of pr0n^H^H^H^H confidential work stuff.

Re:a mirror

[ScrO (221643)]

Monitor mirrors are for HR and Marketing drones... I much prefer the strategically-placed CDs (data side out) pinned to my cube wall and aimed the appropriate direction with additional pushpins behind them. It amazes me that nobody catches on until I specifically point it out to them.

Note that AOL CDs (while rarer these days) or any other free, pressed discs work best (as they are the shiniest); most CD-Rs don't work so well.

You guys are missing the damn point.

[rincebrain (776480)]

He explicitly said he wanted headphones that did NOT block out all ambient noise.

$30-99? Grado SR-60s

[trickykungfu (778316)]

Grado SR-60s are the way to go for your requirements. They are, hands down, the best headphones available under $100. The only drawback is that they are open stage, so you can hear sounds around you, which is not so good for a metro or bus ride. But it sounds like that's an advantage rather than a drawback in your case. SR-60s will run you about $80 USD shipped. Oh, and don't succumb to the temptation to get the SR-80s just because they've got a higher model number. The 60s are far better for non-amp-driven listening.

Radhack

[RomulusNR (29439)]

I have a pair of what are probably Radio Shack foam-padded old-school jobs that probably didn't even cost $20. They're sufficiently hearable and they don't block out outside noise.

Jeez, why make it so damn complicated. Who needs to show off their headphones at work?

Re:Radhack

[Myself (57572)]

Amen. My pair of Pro-35s has served me well for many years. The sound is adequate for casual listening, and the open-air design is more appropriate than blocking out the world. They're fairly light, reasonably durable, and very comfortable. Find 'em on sale for $20 more often than not.

If you want to make a statement, get a pair of bluetooth headphones. Pair them and a regular bt headset to your computer. Velcro the headset to the wall of your cubicle with a sign saying "intercom". Set the computer to pipe music to the headphones until the intercom button is pushed. :)

Re:Radhack

[Total_Wimp (564548)]

Jeez, why make it so damn complicated. Who needs to show off their headphones at work?

I'm not too sure he's trying to show off. In fact, I suspect he's actually looking for good sound. My first clue was when he wrote "What I'm looking for is a set of headphones with (1) good sound in a wide variety of music..." My second clue was when he said he was looking for "headphones" which are typically used for personal listening as opposed to "giant speakers," which are often used to compare manhood.

My final clu

Go Sennheizer

[thegrassyknowl (762218)]

I have a pair of senheizer HD-220s or somesuch (they're from the 200 series but I can't remember the specific number because they are at work where I am not).

They are semi-open back. They block out most ambient noise just by putting them on - the general chatter fades out. Talking in the next cube, rap-tap-tapping and the phone doesn't go.

Turn on some music and bam - nearly everything is gone. I play the music quietly all day and I don't have a problem. I can hear when people are talking to me or tapping on the cube, so it is cool.

"Hearing Aid"

[Frogbert (589961)]

My tactic is to leave one ear bud out and hidden away under my shirt. I've managed to convince everyone in the office that it is a hearing aid. Now even in the odd chance that I don't hear someone they just chalk it up to my bad hearing.

PX 100's

[spoop (952477)]

I have a pair of Sennheiser PX 100's, and they are great. They are quite durable, although they might not look that way. Mine have been through a lot and are still in perfect condition. They come with a case which is a pain to use, but protects them very well. Most of the parts on them can be replaced if need be, and they come with a two year warranty. I say go for the PX 100's.

Use a mic

[t0qer (230538)]

Just plug a microphone in. Make sure it's sinsoid and not cartoid type, since sinsoid picks up sound in any direction.

Put on your headphones, then adjust the mic mix till you hear the desired amount of background noise.

Re:Use a mic

[dpaton.net (199423)]

You mean omnidirectional, not sinusoid. Cardoid describes the polar pattern of the mic, and will tend to reject sounds that are behind the mic, like the computer fans.

-dave

get creative!

[fanblade (863089)]

You could also try some cube modding to find out when people are behind you!

The low-tech solution is to set up a rear-view mirror. But this is slashdot, so...

Write an app to lower your volume and/or play a sound when one of the following inputs are detected:

- your doorbell is pressed
- your touch-sensitive welcome mat is stood upon
- your door-mounted IR/laser beam is broken
- your cube-mounted microphone picks up an audio pattern that matches your "knock-knock" or "ahem" signature.
- your directional light sensor detects a shadow between it and a certain ceiling light above and outside of your door.
- your digital IR camera detects a body mass of close to 98.6 degrees fahrenheit standing in the doorway.

OK, so maybe ALL of these is overkill. But I haven't been snuck up on in years!!!

Re:get creative!

[joNDoty (774185)]

This still leaves us vulnerable to all floating, invisible, cold-blooded eavesdroppers.

Unless they clear their throat!

ObKentBrockman

[by Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, welcome our floating, invisible, cold-blooded, eavesdropping overlords.

one more requirement you forgot

[egburr (141740)]

You forgot the requirement that they direct the noise to your ears only and not disturb everyone around you.

It's amazing how many people think that the cheap earbuds they wear can only be heard by the wearer. Sitting 3-4 feet away, I can often understand every word being sung, at least on those songs where the singer can be understood. With 2 or 3 such people around, I get a headache from the clash of noise.

In an office setting, with open-top cubicles, sound carries an incredible distance. Try not to irritate your co-workers. Try out the headphones you like, adjust the volume to what you like, then get someone else to wear them while you sit a few feet away and listen while doing other relatively quiet tasks like reading a web page, typing a slashdot post, or playing solitaire. If you can still hear the music, maybe these aren't the right headphones for you after all.

buds Vs muffs

[RingDev (879105)]

When I got the green light to listen to music at work, my first choice was buds. I'm a application developer, and when we moved offices I went from a somewhat annoying (right next to the door) yet quiet (against 2 exterior walls), to a very loud (next to the network support bull pen) cubical. I used the ear buds for a while, but the ambient noise was still adiable unless I really cranked the music, which was just as distracting. I finally dug out an old set of Sony Switchback headphones. Those things are wonderful. Ambient noise gets cut way down, and they have some pretty decent sound quality. As for the cubical tapping, I figure if it's really important, they'll tap louder.

-Rick

Extended Hearing is key

[picklepuss (749206)]

I tried those BOSE noise cancellation headphones on an airplane recently, and after about 2 hours, my ears were really killing me. Not the outside part of the ear (lobe) but my actual eardrums.

If you're going to have the things on all day long, then think about professionals whose job requires they where headphones all day, every day - studio musicians, engineers, radio announcers, etc.

When I was in Recording School, I bought a pair of the Ubiquitous AKG K240s. At that time, most recording studios had these in large supply. They are fairly durable, comfortable, and you can listen on them a very long time. I've been using mine over 10 years and they're still in great shape.

They may look a bit dorky, and they don't fold, but they've survived my cluttered backback on many a trip. At just under $100 [sweetwater.com], they fit in your price range.

One other thing that's really nice about them... they have an 1/8" jack, and come with a threaded 1/4" adapter. The threaded adapter is priceless if you're contantly plugging your headphones in and out of studio gear.

Re:Noise cancelling headset

[dimension6 (558538)]

Not to mention, you won't be hearing any "warnings of imminent attack" with those.

Re:Get the Sennheiser PXC 300

[Frequency Domain (601421)]

Etymotics aren't noise cancelling, they are noise isolating - they physically seal your ear off from the ambient noise. Noise cancelling headphones, on the other hand, have a little pickup microphone for the outside noise, and circuitry to invert the waveform and inject it into the headphone signal. The inverted waveform and original noise waveform cancel each other inside the earpiece, leaving the music much more audible at lower volumes. Since the inverting circuitry works best against steady-state drones such as jet engines, refrigerators, computer hum, etc., the earlier post is correct that it may make it possible to hear things like raps on the cubicle or conversations.

Re:Get the Sennheiser PXC 300

[AsbestosRush (111196)]

Not to flame, but if the submitter is seriously considering Sennheiser cans, he subjectively won't like they reproduction of the $10 set from Best Buy. Sennheiser makes some of the best headphones in the business

Of course, this begs the question, "If quality reproduction is what you want, why are you sourceing from an MP3 Player?"

Now, to get back on topic, I have to wonder if submitter's little player really does have the juice to run a really good set of cans. I'd highly recommend that the submitter check out http://www.headphone.com/ [headphone.com] and read up. Lots of great info there on headphones, a bit of the physics, and a *huge* selection of headphones and headphone amps.

Re:You can get noise-reducing white earbuds:

[loraksus (171574)]

NO! No, No!
These earbuds (along with the MDR-EX51LPs) suffer from a very serious defect - the cords turn gummy and then dissolve after a matter of months, exposing the bare wires (and then breaking shortly thereafter) - usually right after the 90 day warranty expires. Don't trust me, go on amazon and read the reviews. Virtually every one posted after March 2005 is negative (yet Amazon keeps the high rated reviews up, but that is a different story)

Sony has known about this issue for quite some time (the prob